LAS HOTEL & SPA — Hotel in Municipality of East Mani

Stayed at this hotel with a friend in July 2024. It was my second time here in the past three years. I would have gone elsewhere considering how expensive this hotel has become, but there was no other availability in town for the days I was visiting. The rooms are spacious and decorated in modern lines. Excellent maid service every day. Premises very clean and well maintained. The breakfast buffet is generous and there is something for everyone. There is a choice of having breakfast in the outdoor garden or indoors in the dining hall. The breakfast attendants are fantastic! There is a bar on the rooftop that seems very popular judging by the clients riding up the elevator every night. Location of the hotel is great in terms of walkability to restaurants, bars and cafes. There is no parking at the hotel, but it is not difficult to find parking within the vicinity after unloading (if there is space to even park for unloading as it varied day by day). From previous experience, I requested “mountain/city” views as the noise level at the back of the hotel is less to non-existent compared to the front of the hotel “facing the sea” (also lower level rooms have only a small partial view). There is a supermarket on the main floor and the delivery trucks come and go at first light making it difficult to stay asleep. Not to mention that the drapes allow too much sun to come in. My request was honored, and I was very happy with the room, the balcony, the views of the mountain and city roof tops. Convenient small room fridge, closet, drawers for clothing, multiple plugs, light fixture choices, TV. Wasn’t impressed with the wall dividing the shower and the bedroom made of textured glass. Although this allows direct natural light into the bathroom, there is zero privacy for someone taking a shower if there is another guest in the room (if that kind of privacy is an issue). However not all rooms are the same, since the other two rooms I stayed in three years ago did not have this kind of situation. I would love to go back to the LAS because of the exceptional services offered by the housekeeping staff, the attendants at the breakfast and the two female front desk daytime employees that I had the pleasure of dealing with. However, I have three negative issues that I would like to address, which is why I am only giving a 3 and not 4 star review. My first issue concerns the room air conditioning. There is of course an air conditioning unit in every room. There is also an air conditioning control panel in every room so that you may supposedly choose to adjust the temperature and fan force to your liking. It is mentioned to you upon arrival (and obvious when in the room), that for energy saving sake, once you open a door (whether it be to the room or the balcony door) or a window, the air-conditioning will stop, and you will only be able to reactivate it once the doors are closed again. This mechanism is found in many other hotels in Greece. It is a reasonable situation. However, what they don’t tell you at the LAS, is that if you want to manually change the temperature, for example, lower it from the pre-programmed 24C, you are limited in not only the amount of time the temperature may be lowered for but also to the temperature you would like. If you want 20C, it is only a short duration override and at some point, the system will automatically go back up to the 24C that has been pre-programmed. This went on all night on our first night. We thought that maybe it was a one-off problem with the unit in our room so the next morning, we complained at the front desk hoping they might send up someone from maintenance to check it out. The female employee informed us that only front desk staff could override the temperature and duration of temp change from the computer at their desk! She asked us what temperature we wanted. We said make it 19C. She confirmed the change was made. We left for the day. This brings me to my 2nd negative issue.|That night when we returned to the hotel, before going up to our room, we spoke to the night desk employee to ensure the AC was properly set for us. The male night desk employee lacked the amiable demeanor of the daytime staff. He started off by condescendingly scolding us that if the AC wasn’t working up to par in our room, that it was our fault because we “don’t know how air-conditioning works”. He accused us of opening and closing the doors and that if we would stop doing that, the AC would work properly. We replied that this was in fact impossible, as were in bed sleeping whenever the AC would return to the 24C after a few hours! Not to mention that we knew very well how air-conditioning units work, whether they be programmable units with temp and time overrides or not and had to add “even if we are women!” We were on defensive mode the whole time he addressed us. When he finally understood that we weren’t going to take his excuses and go, he agreed to lower the temperature to our room, but then exclaimed that he wasn’t going to lower it to 19C because 1) “It’s too cold for you and YOU CAN’T HANDLE IT” and 2) “And anyways, it doesn’t go down to 19C”. Fine we told him, just put it as low as it goes and if you must manually override it from your station all night long during your shift then so be it. That night the temperature was maintained to our liking and we slept very well without having to get up and lower it every few hours. However, the exchange left us in a bitter mood. We had a hard time getting over the misogynistic tone of his attitude towards we the guests, as well as the reality that guests don’t have any real control of the AC in their rooms. |The third negative comment I have concerns the staff on the rooftop pool and bar area in the late afternoon on the first day we arrived. The pool hours are clearly indicated, and we knew it wasn’t going to close for another complete hour and a half when we made our way up there. As we entered the bar area which is directly below the pool, a waitress literally greeted us quickly with “hello the pool service closes in an hour and a half”. We replied that we were aware of this information, but that we still wanted to take a dip to cool off and sit by the pool. We noticed there were no other guests and that all the cushions had been removed. We were unfazed by this and understood it may have been necessary because it was still a very windy day. However, even though the pool was technically open for another hour and a half and that we could be clearly seen by the staff in the bar area, they did nothing to acknowledge our presence other than that first exchange. We had to go seek them to ask for towels and no one came to take an order for a drink. We were basically ignored as they hung out and had a great time with each other socializing. (I speak Greek so being privy to their conversations I can attest that their inattentiveness was not due to being busy with work related issues.) We did not attempt to revisit the pool or the bar again during our trip. Why bother. |Would I go back to the LAS? I would, based on the location, cleanliness and 90% of the staff that are hard at work there making guests feel welcome, valued and appreciated. But honestly, I think that great staff and clean and accommodating rooms can also be found elsewhere in Gytheio, but for a less expensive price. As such, any future stays at the LAS will be based on the unavailability of more affordable yet on par options in and...

Perhaps the best hotel in the city of Gythio. Recently renovated and spotlessly clean, it stands out both for its quality and for the outstanding service. The staff is extremely polite and attentive, from the reception desk to the spa therapist Dimitra, whom we warmly thank for the wonderful Arabian hammam experience she offered us. The rooms are comfortable, bright, and impeccably clean, with complimentary bottled water provided daily. Although there is no minibar, a kettle with free coffee and tea is available in every room; still, the addition of a minibar would be a welcome improvement. The location of the hotel is excellent, with most rooms offering breathtaking sea views. On the top floor, there is a stunning swimming pool and a stylish restaurant serving quality dishes — a perfect setting to enjoy a meal with a view. Breakfast is rich, European-style, with fresh products. We especially appreciated the morning staff who kindly prepared takeaway coffees for us before our daily explorations. Another highlight was the late check-out option, as well as the flexibility in accommodating some of our additional requests. Overall, Las Hotel is without a doubt the top accommodation choice in Gythio. For us, it is certain that on every future visit to the city, this will be our...

Opinion of a Brit - this is a modern 3* design hotel (I wouldn't call it 4*) with some pros and cons.

Pros - very modern, chic decor, nice balconies in rooms. The rooftop has a relaxed bar/restaurant and small glass sided pool with about 8 sunbeds. It has an exclusive feel to it. The location is close to Gythio's bars and restaurants (quietish town but nice for couples). Note that this hotel is mostly used by Greek guests and is much busier on a weekend.

Cons - the food and drink are pricey with no discount for guests (€4.50 for a small beer), the service is mixed - some staff do try but the service levels could be improved and it all feels quite impersonal at times. For instance, we were refused a side of fries, even though they do serve fries with some meals and were also asked to move our sunbeds (after we'd shifted them to face the sun - and with no other guests at the pool!). Our air-con in the room was a bit hit and miss. To be clear, there is no hotel parking, just street parking, not an issue for us in Sept, but might be in high summer.

Overall, this hotel has huge potential with a stunning rooftop area. It feels a tad faux luxury, but suits young couples who like a pool with a bar, chill music etc, but the service needs to be more consistent to make this a...